Maize farmer ‘beats the heat’

Even as several maize farmers are upset over withered crops due to extremely hot conditions, a farmer in Tirupur district is showing how adopting progressive farming practices can ‘beat the heat,’ and reap success by cultivating maize.

S. Shanmugasundaram (65), a multi-crop farmer from Karapalayam village who always looked for innovations over the past four-decades, tried out a new hybrid, heat-resistant seed variety of maize developed at the State Seed Farm in Pongalur, and followed certain creative agronomic procedures, to get rich dividends.

His maize field, spreads little over an acre, is now filled with cobs that have seeds/grains till to the top and in sizes more than the conventionally grown corncobs.

“Usually, severe heat is not conducive for raising maize as even I have faced losses earlier. This is due to…CONTINUE READING